TRUE STORIES

Vet and His Flashlight Survive IED Blast

During my tour in Afghanistan (2009-2010), I had the Surefire LX2 LumaMax® with me everywhere. It was always in a pocket on my lower left leg for when I ever needed it. During that tour it took all the beatings of combat and missions. Never once did it let me down.

On one day, in January of 2010, I was returning from a mission and heading back to base when my vehicle hit a massive IED. I was severely injured in the blast. Along with numerous internal injuries, I’d also lost my left leg. My weapon, which was next to my leg, was nothing but a twisted, mangled J-shaped piece of metal from the blast.

After almost a year in Walter Reed, I was able to track down my gear. While digging through my personal belongings from that fateful day, I found my trusty SureFire from the blast. It had chunks of metal taken out of the body, and the glass was totally destroyed, but just for the heck of it I pushed the button—the light came on! After taking a direct blast from a powerful IED, my SureFire LX2 still worked! I still have it to this day, in a place of remembrance of that fateful day.